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25 July 2006 : Column 1595W—continued
Communities and Local Government
Academic Research
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding her Department is providing to academic institutions to conduct research, broken down by project. [88399]
Angela E. Smith: Details of research projects commissioned by the DCLG are available from our Research Management Database (RMD) at http:// www.rmd.communities.gov.uk. This includes information about the contractors and the cost of each individual project.
Advertising
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the revision of outdoor advertising planning regulations. [83098]
Yvette Cooper: We published the draft Control of Advertisements Regulations for consultation on 24 July.
Arson
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many incidents of arson there were in each London borough in each of the last five years. [88664]
Angela E. Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 July 2006 (UIN 86836).
Casinos
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what previous connection Professor Stephen Crow of the Casino Advisory Panel has had with the Department in the past. [84485]
Yvette Cooper: Between 1988 and his retirement in 1994, Stephen Crow was the Chief Planning Inspector of the Planning Inspectorate. Prior to his appointment as Chief Planning Inspector he was a field Inspector determining planning appeals and other casework. Since his retirement he has acted as independent chairperson of Examinations in Public into the following:
Regional Planning Guidance for the South-East (RPG 9) —June 1999
Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Structure Plan—Jan 2001
Devon Joint Structure Plan—June 2003
Cornwall Structure Plan—July 2003
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Joint Structure Plan— June 2004
NW Regional Spatial Strategy amendments— November 2004
In undertaking Structure Plan examinations, the chair reported to the local authority concerned, not the Secretary of State.
He also did research work on Completion Notices for DTLR in 2001.
Civil Servants (Expenses)
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 27 June 2006 , Official Report, column 289W, on civil servants (expenses), how much of the expenditure on temporary overnight accommodation in London by civil servants was incurred on accommodation for civil servants in the Deputy Prime Minister’s private office. [82953]
Angela E. Smith: Information is not collected in the form requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Community Land Trusts
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research her Department (a) is conducting and (b) has commissioned into the use of community land trusts. [85875]
Yvette Cooper: The Housing Corporation has funded research on community land trusts:
It funded a research report published in 2003 by the New Economics Foundation and CDS Co-operatives;
It part-funded research by Community Finance Solutions of Salford university published by the Countryside Agency in 2005; and
It also announced on 22 June 2006 that it was providing £120,000 for practical research on pilot community land trusts by Community Finance Solutions.
English Partnerships is also currently developing a pilot community land trust to deliver affordable housing on public sector land at Cashes Green, Stroud.
Conservation Areas
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many designated conservation areas there are in England. [88080]
Yvette Cooper: This information is not held centrally.
Council Tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the Valuation Office Agency’s (a) photography best practice guide and (b) COVO manual mentioned in clause 3.7.11, of Section 2 of the VOA’s Council Tax Manual. [86788]
Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
The (a) best practice guide and (b) COVU manual mentioned in section 2, part 3.7.11, of the Valuation Office Agency’s Council Tax Manual are internal technical instructions on use of the agency’s digital photography application and how, when and where to store digital photographs on the agency’s central database to ensure overall system performance is not affected. It is not appropriate to place these documents in the Library.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what contracts her Department and its predecessors have entered into with (a) Infoterra Ltd. and (b) BlueSky International Ltd. since 1997. [88082]
Angela E. Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and its predecessors has let the following contracts with Infoterra since 1997:
National Land Use Database Pilots 1 & 2: Creation of Urban and Rural Baseline Datasets;
National Land Use Database: County Demonstrator; and
Generalised Land Use Database: Pilot Phase.
DCLG has not let any contracts with Bluesky International Ltd.
Departmental Staff
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 27 June 2006, Official Report, column 290W, on departmental staff, which Government Department will take over the use of the vacated office space at 26 Whitehall once her civil servants are relocated to Eland House. [82956]
Angela E. Smith: Current plans are for the Department for Communities and Local Government to continue using 26 Whitehall as accommodation until the Department’s occupancy agreement with the Cabinet Office comes to an end in March 2008. At present it is planned that staff moved from Eland Road to free accommodation for DCLG ministers and civil servants from 26 Whitehall will backfill the vacated office space.
Empty Dwellings
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what mechanism her Department has initiated for estimating the number of empty dwelling management orders issued by councils and property tribunals. [85712]
Yvette Cooper: Local authorities are required to keep a register of all management orders made by them under the powers in the Housing Act 2004, including any empty dwelling management orders. The information must be made available for public inspection.
All applications from local housing authorities to make interim empty dwelling management orders must be authorised by a Residential Property Tribunal. The Residential Property Tribunal Service will record and publish on its website the decisions that the tribunals take. The Department will monitor this information.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the letter sent by her Department to local authorities on empty dwelling management orders and mentioned in her Department's press statement of 13 July issuing guidance on the procedures to be followed when taking control of a private sector home following the death of the owner. [86779]
Yvette Cooper: Copies of the letter dated 6 July from Baroness Andrews to local authority chief executives have been placed in the Library.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her policy is on empty private sector housing. [83823]
Yvette Cooper
[holding answer 10 July 2006]: There are over half a million empty private sector homes in England. More than half of these remain empty for longer than six months and a significant proportion are
abandoned for years. Empty homes can quickly fall into disrepair and the longer they remain empty the more likely it is that they will become derelict and prohibitively expensive to bring back into use. Empty homes can create significant problems for local authorities, the police and fire services. They blight the homes of neighbouring residents, are vulnerable to squatters, vandals, drug-dealers and arsonists, are bad for the environment and restrict housing opportunities available to people in areas of high housing demand.
Our policy response is to promote effective empty homes strategies by local authorities that emphasise opportunities to work with property owners to find solutions that allow their properties to be brought back into use. We encourage local authorities to offer incentives ranging from advice on selling and letting property to grants and leasing arrangements. We have also introduced a range of fiscal incentive for owners of empty properties through VAT, capital allowances and council tax.
We consider that local authorities must, as a last resort, have access to effective enforcement procedures for long term empty properties where voluntary measures have been declined and owners cannot demonstrate that they intend to bring their properties back into use. Local authorities have access to compulsory purchase procedures to deal with empty homes and may enforce the sale of properties on which they have carried out works. We have recently introduced Empty Dwelling Management Orders as an alternative solution that protects the rights of property owners.
We work closely with the Empty Homes Agency, which is an independent charitable organisation that seeks to find effective solutions to the problems posed by empty homes. The Agency works closely with local authorities and has recently published guidance on setting effective empty homes strategies.
Fire Prevention
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what targets the Government have set for fire authorities in relation to fire prevention. [88073]
Angela E. Smith: The Government's Public Service Agreement (PSA) contains two targets for the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) in England. The first is to reduce the number of accidental fire-related deaths in the home by 20 per cent. averaged over the 11-year period to March 2010 compared with the average recorded in the five-year period to March 1999—with a floor element that no local authority fire brigade will have a fatality rate more than 1.25 times the national average by March 2010. The second target is to reduce by 10 per cent. the number of deliberate fires by 31 March 2010 from the 2001-02 baseline figure.
The FRS is making good progress towards achieving this target. Latest provisional figures show that there were 216 deaths in the 12 months to 30 September 2005, 53 fewer then in the previous 12 months. This represents a fall of 20 per cent. At present five FRAs have more than 1.25 times the number of fatalities in the home than the national average. Deliberate primary
fires have also fallen in the latest 12 months, 67,900 were recorded. This is 28 per cent. below the 2010 PSA target of 94,000.
Fire Service
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 16 May 2006, Official Report, column 924W, on the Fire Service, what estimate the Government have made of the number of armed forces personnel who have been trained to operate fire services appliances and equipment. [88252]
Angela E. Smith: If the Government agree to the provision of emergency cover, the most readily available units are diverted from armed forces tasks and trained to operate fire service appliances and equipment prior to their deployment. There are no armed forces personnel on permanent standby or permanently trained to provide emergency fire cover.
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the merits of no-strike clauses in firefighters’ contracts; and if she will make a statement. [88322]
Angela E. Smith: Contracts of employment are a matter for individual fire and rescue authorities and pay and conditions of uniformed employees in the fire and rescue service are a matter for the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services.
First-time Buyers
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what programmes there are to assist first-time buyers in London. [83132]
Yvette Cooper: The HomeBuy scheme has three products available, based on equity sharing, which can help first time buyers to get a first step on the housing ladder. Social HomeBuy enables tenants of participating local authorities and housing associations to buy a share in the property in which they live; Open Market HomeBuy enables purchasers to buy a property on the open market with the help of an equity loan; and New Build HomeBuy, which includes the First Time Buyers’ Initiative, will enable purchasers to buy a share in a newly built property with public subsidy or on public sector land.
The First Time Buyers' Initiative is being developed by English Partnerships to deliver up to 15,000 new affordable homes across England by 2010 utilising public land where possible. About 4,500 of these homes will be in London, including up to 1,500 homes provided through the London Wide Initiative on publicly owned brownfield sites.
In addition, eligible social tenants in London may also be helped to buy their rented home at a discount through the right to buy and right to acquire schemes.
We are investing over £415 million in the Homebuy scheme in London through the Housing Corporation's
Affordable Housing Programme in London for 2006-08. This will deliver some 6,000 New Build HomeBuy homes, 740 Social HomeBuy sales and 5,000 Open Market HomeBuy sales.
Housing
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department and its predecessors have given the Planning Inspectorate since May 1997 on residential development on gardens. [86783]
Yvette Cooper: Planning Inspectors make judgments in the context of published policy and guidance. Since 1997, this would have included PPG3 and associated guidance carried forward from the previous administration and subsequent revisions to PPG3 and associated guidance since then.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many houses have been built in West Lancashire in the last five years. [83646]
Yvette Cooper: The numbers of new build completions reported for West Lancashire since 2001-02 are in the following table.
| New build completions | |
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